Car ventilator



Feb. 17, 1931.

CZ. L. HOWARD CAR VENTILATOR Filed June 6,

2 Silesia-Sheet 1 Je/mf': Cliariesl.floward Feb. 17, 1931. c. L. HOWARD CAR VENTILATOR Filed June 6, 1928 2 $heets-$heet 2 Patented Feb. 17, 1931 PATENT OFFICE CHARLES L. HOWARD, or CHICAGO, ILL'INOIS em ENTILATOR Application filed June e, 1928. Serial No. 283,186.

This invention relates to improvements in car ventilators, and more particularly car ventilators applied to the doors of house cars and wherein the doors are of the all metal type.

Many classes of freight require ventilation while being transported in freight cars, which requirement is generally met by using some type of ventilated side-door and of which many have heretofore been suggested. The general use of all metal doors for house cars by railroads has been a comp-aratively'recent development in the railroad art so that the ventilated door arrangements still in use are practically all of the wooden or wood and metal door types which are'not satisfactory under the severe conditions'of present railroad practice because of their tendency toward rapid deterioration and distortion.

One object ofmy invention is toprovide a ventilator for cars which ventilator will be of the all metal type and which is particularly advantageous when incorporated in an .25 all metal door, the arrangement being such that air currents are permitted therethrough while the entrance of rain, dirt or other foreign matter is effectively prevented, whether the car is stationary or in motion.

Another object of the invention is to provide a car ventilator of the type indicated in g,

the preceding paragraph such that, when incorporated in an all metal door, the prov1- sions for ventilation do not lessen but rather augment the inherent strength of the door so that the life of the latter is not shortened and the door, is enabled to resist the blows and forces-incident to railroad service.

Still another object if my invention is to provide a ventilatingarrange'ment which is especially applicable to car doors employing corrugated sheet metal'panels without involving any essential changes in the existing mode of manufacture whereby to maintain the cost of manufacture at a minimum;

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from the description and claims hereinafter following. M In the drawings forming a part of this speeificatiom'Fig. 1 is a side elevationalview of a box car side door having my improvements incorporated therein. broken horizontal sectional view corresponding' to the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a broken vertical sectional view corresponding to the line 3-"3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a broken detail sectional view similar to Fig. 3, upon a somewhat enlarged scale, to more clearly illustrate certain features of the constructioni Fig. 5 is a view similar'to Fig. 4 illustrating a different embodiment of the invention. And Fig. 6 is another view similar to 4 illustrating a still further embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the side Wall of a boX car is indicated at 10, the same having a door opening therein definedby a front Z-bar post 11, a rear .Z bar post12, top side plate 13 and threshold plate 14. The posts 11 and 12 have wood. fillers 15'15 secured thereto, as shown in Fig. 2; The door illustrated is of thetop hung type and hence the side plate 13 has secured thereto a horizontal track 16 having a depending flange 17 The threshold plate 14 is of generally angular cross section, the vertical flange 171 of which is preferably riveted to the channel side sill 18.

The door designated generally by the reference character A is of the top hung type, as previously mentioned, in accordance with which the same is supplied with roller brackets 1919 secured to the upper corners thereof and the rollers 20 of which ride on the track 16, the upper edge of the door being disposed behind the retaining. flange 17 of the. track, as best shown in Fig. 3; The bottom edge of the door is confined by suitable guide brackets 2121 secured at intervals along the side sill 1 8 and any suitable locking arrangement for the door may beutilized, a conventional form being indicated'at22.

The door chosen for purposes of illustra'e tion is of the all sheet metal type, thesame preferably consisting of an upper panel 23, an intermedite panel 24 and a bottom'panel 25. The panels have their adjacent ho'rizon tal edges overlapped and secured by ae'eriee of rivets 26,. or spot welded, the three'panels Fig. 2 is a (iii thus forming the main portion of the door.

The door is integrally reinforced, preferably by vertically extending edge corrugations 2727 disposed slightly inwardly of the corresponding edges, thus leaving flat marginal portions 2828 in the main sheets of the door. The front edge corrugation 27 is covered and reinforced to provide a tubular construction, by a bridging strip 29 riveted or spot welded to the main sheets on opposite sides of the corrugation, said strip 29 preferably having a flange 30 doubled over the corresponding flat marginal portion 28, as best shown in Fig. 2, so as to provide a triple-ply front edge for the door, of light weight but great strength to resist indentation. The front edge of the door, when in closed position, is seated beneath a stop 31, preferably in the form of an angle secured to the post 11.

The rear vertical edge corrugation 27 is similarly reinforced by a vertically extending bridging strip 32, the only difference being that the latter does not have a doubled over edge. To provide the weather seal at the rear edge of the door, an angle 33 is secured to the door, said angle having a forwardly and inwardly inclined flange 34 engaging behind a co-operating weather sealing member 35 in the form of an angle secured to the post 12. The vertical edge corrugations 27 may be further reinforced by suitable V-shaped strips 36 disposed on the interior thereof and OX tending lengthwise of the same, as shown in Fig. 2.

T 0 permit the use of relatively light gauge sheet metal while at the same time obtaining the necessary strength against bending, buckling or warping, the panels are provided with a plurality of horizontally extending corrugations spaced at suitable intervals apart, two of which are indicated by the reference characters 3737 and the remainder by the reference characters 383S. All the horizontal corrugations or indentations except the top and bottom ones, merge at their ends with the vertical edge corrugations 27 so as to mutually reinforce each other to prevent collapse. The top and bottom horizontal corrugations may be reinforced similar to the vertical edge corrugations by bridging strips 39-39 shown in F 3.

In the drawings, 1 have illustrated my ventilating arrangement as incorporated in two of the horizontal corrugations 37 which are in the uppermost panel of the door and which are separated by an intervening non-ventilating horizontal corrugation 38. As will be understood by those skilled in the art,the number of ventilating means may be increased or decreased, as desired, without departing from the invention and the location thereof may also obviously be changed to suit different conditions.

Referring now more particularly to Fig.

3, it will be observed that between each pair of horizontal corrugations there is left a flat portion or section 40 in the door panel, the same being in the main plane of the sheet and the corrugations extended outwardly therefrom. To provide the means of ventilation in the preferred form, each corrugation 37 is slit horizontally along the line 41, at the base of the corrugation, where the same merges with the corresponding adjacent flat section 40, the ends of the slit 41 being spaced preferably a few inches from the vertical corrugations 37, as best shown in Fig. 1. The portions of the corrugations thus provided by the slits and referenced 42, and which in the initial manufacture of the panels comprise the lower inwardly sloping portions of the corrugations, are then pressed outwardly to provide downwardly opening louvcrs, the portions 42 being then disposed substantially vertically and in a plane coinciding with a plane passing through the crests of the corrugations, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Integral end walls 43 will thus be left and the lower edges of the portions 42, as indicated at 44 will be disposed somewhat below the lines of the corresponding slits 41. By slitting and forming the corrugations 37 in the manner indicated, the strength of the merged horizontal and vertical corrugations remains unimpaired, as does also the strength of the horizontal corrugation, against forces applied lengthwise thereof and which might have a tendency to buckle the corrugation. The louver formation does weaken, somewhat, the horizontal corrugation with respect to forces applied in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the door, but this is compensated for by the deflector plate about to be described, as will be understood.

Associated with each louver formation 37 42, is a deflector 45, the same comprising a sheet metal plate having a main flat vertical portion 46 and an outwardly and downward ly turned flange 47. The length of the deflector 45 will be such that it may be snugly inserted within the slitted portion of the corrugation 37. The lower portion of the flat section 46 of the deflector is riveted to the flat portion 40 of the panel, as by a series of rivets 48, it being observed that the rivets 48 may be applied after the door is fabricated without any interference to the riveting tools. The deflector 45 is so positioned within the corrugation and louver formation 37-42 that the lower edge 49 of the flange 4'? is appreciably above the lower edge 44 of the louver and so spaced from the vertical portion 42 of the louver as to leave only a relatively narrow mouth or entrance passage 50. With this construction, any rain, cinders or other foreign matter which may be driven latterally against the door, must first pass the edge 44 and in so doing will be driven against the vertical portion of the deflector 45 and a whirling current produced within the downwardly opening V-formation of the deflector, thus knocking down the solid foreign matter and permitting only the air to pass through the mouth 50. The ends of the ventilation opening are obviously protected against the admission of foreign matter, by the louver end walls 43. 7

Referring to the construction illustrated in Fig. 5, which represents a section of the door similar to Fig 5, the essential difference consists in providing the louver flange 142 between pairs of adjacentcorrugations 138 138 and in certain detailed changes of the deflector, about to be described. In this construction, the intervening flat portion 140 of the metal panel is slit along the line 141 at a point somewhat lower than in the first de scribed modification, so that the portion 142, originally comprising a flat main section of the panel, may be outwardly oflset, as shown, to present a downwardly opening louver.

Inasmuch as the remaining flat portion 140 of the panel immediately above the lower corrugation 138 is relatively narrow and of insuflicient width to provide a secure riveted connected with the deflector, the deflector 145 in this instance is formed at its lower por tion with a corrugation 60 conforming to the corrugation 138 and applied thereover and secured thereto as by the series of rivets'148. The deflector has an outwardly and downwardly extending flange 147 at its upper portion which is disposed within the louver 142 and functions in the same manner as in'the first described form.

In the modification of Fig. 6, the arrangement is exactly the same as that shown in Fig. 4, except that the deflector plate 245 is provided at its lower portion with a corruga- 1 tion formation 260 similar to the corrugation 60 and fitting over the corresponding adjacent horizontal corrugation 238 and riveted to the latter by a series of rivets 248 in addition to the. upper horizontal series of rivets 348, securing the deflector-to the'flat portion 240 of the door.

As will be apparent from the preceding description, considered in connection with the drawings, the door may .be fabricated in its usual manner, and the ventilating features incorporated therein merely by the additional steps of slitting at desired points and the deformation of the slitted portions to form the louvers. The addition of the deflectors involves merely a common riveting operation which may be done either before or after the doors are completely fabricated. Also, it will be observed that my improvements may be incorporated in doors of the indicated type which are now in service, and without involving any great expense.

While I have-chosen to illustrate the improvements specifically in connection with a house car door, it will be understood that many of the features of the invention are equally adaptable to other car body elements and allchan-ges and modifications are contemplated that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a car ventilator, the combination with a sheet metal panel having an integral strengthening horizontally disposed indentation, the latter being provided with a downwardly opening louver, closed at its ends incorporated therein; of a deflector disposed behind the louver and within the indentation.

2. a carventilator, the combinationwith a sheet metal panel havinga strengthening indentation, the latter being provided with an integral downwardly opening louver incorporated therein; of a deflector disposed within the louver and the indentation, said deflect-or having an outwardly and downwardly disposed flange terminating an appreciable distance above the lower edge .of the louver formation.

3. In a car ventilator, the combination with a sheet metal panel having a horizontally extending corrugation incorporated therein, the corrugation having a slit therein terminating at points spaced from the ends of the corrugation, the portion of the corrugation thus slit being offset from its original position in the corrugation, to provide a downwardly opening louver; of a deflector plate secured to the panel below the louver and having its upper portion disposed within the louver corrugation, the upper portion of the deflector plate including a downwardly and outwardly sloping flange with its lower edge terminating above the lower edge of the louver formation and providing with the inner face of the latter a restricted entrance opening.

4. In a car ventilator, the combination with a sheet metal panel having a downwardly opening louver closed at its ends; of a horizontally disposed corrugation formed in the panel below the louver; a deflector plate cooperating with the louver to provide a restricted entrance passage, said plate having the lower portion thereof of corrugation form to correspond with and fit said horizontal corrugation and secured to the latter.

5. A ventilated car door comprising: a door proper comprised of sheet metal having vertical edge corrugations and horizontal corrugations extending between and merg ing with the vertical corrugations, at least one of said horizontal corrugations being slit to provide a downwardly opening louver, the ends of the slit being spaced from the vertical corrugations, so that the end portions of said horizontal corrugation remain intact; and a deflector secured to the door.

and cooperating with the inner face of the louver formation to provide a restricted enupper trance passage located above the bottom edge of the louver.

6. A ventilated car door comprising: a door proper comprised of sheet metal having outwardly disposed horizontal corrugations with intervening flat spaces therebetween, the sheet metal being horizontally slit between two adjacent corrugations so as to leave a flat attaching section above the lower of the two corrugations, the free edge of the slit portion being outwardly offset to provide a louver; and a deflector plate including an deflecting flange disposed entirely within the louver and a lower flat section overlapping and secured to said flat attaching section of the sheet.

7. In a ventilator, the combination with a panel provided with a horizontally extending, downwardly opening louver closed at its ends; of deflector means extending horizontally and located behind the louver formation, said means including an outwardly and downwardly extending section, the lower horizontal edge of which is disposed above the lower horizontal edge of the louver formation and forms, with the louver formation, a relatively restricted opening.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th day of May 1928.

CHARLES L. HOWARD. 

